Chapter XV. "The Alcove"

by Joseph A. Altsheler

　　They arrived at the fort as evening was coming on, and as soon asfood was served to them the five sought sleep. The frontiersmenusually slept soundly and for a long time after prodigiousexertions, and Henry and his comrades were too wise to make anexception. They secured a single room inside the fort, one givento them gladly, because Mary Newton had already spread the fameof their exploits, and, laying aside their hunting shirts andleggins, prepared for rest.

　　"Jim," said Shif'less Sol, pointing to a low piece of furniture,flat and broad, in one corner of the room, "that's a bed. Mebbeyou don't think it, but people lay on top o' that an' sleepthar."

　　Long Jim grinned.

　　"Mebbe you're right, Sol," he said. "I hev seen sech things ezthat, an' mebbe I've slep' on 'em, but in all them gran' oldtales Paul tells us about I never heard uv no big heroes sleepin'in beds. I guess the ground wuz good 'nough for A-killus,Hector, Richard-Kur-de-Leong, an' all the rest uv that fightin'crowd, an' ez I'm that sort uv a man myself I'll jest roll downhere on the floor. Bein' as you're tender, Sol Hyde, an' notused to hard life in the woods, you kin take that bed yourself,an' in the mornin' your wally will be here with hot water in asilver mug an' a razor to shave you, an' he'll dress you in aruffled red silk shirt an' a blue satin waistcoat, an' greensatin breeches jest comin' to the knee, where they meet yellowsilk stockin's risin' out uv purple satin slippers, an' thenhe'll clap on your head a big wig uv snow-white hair, fallin' allabout your shoulders an' he'll buckle a silver sword to yourside, an' he'll say: "Gentlemen, him that hez long been known ezShif'less Sol, an' desarvin' the name, but who in reality is theKing o' France, is now before you. Down on your knees an' sayyour prayers!"

　　Shif'less Sol stared in astonishment.

　　"You say a wally will do all that fur me, Jim? Now, what underthe sun is a wally ?"

　　"I heard all about 'em from Paul," replied Long Jim in a tone ofintense satisfaction. "A wally is a man what does fur you whatyou ought to do fur yourself."

　　"Then I want one," said Shif'less Sol emphatically. "He'd jestsuit a lazy man like me. An' ez fur your makin' me the King o'France, mebbe you're more'n half right about that without knowin'it. I hev all the instincts uv a king. I like to be waited on,I like to eat when I'm hungry, I like to drink when I'm thirsty,I like to rest when I'm tired, an' I like to sleep when I'msleepy. You've heard o' children changed at birth by fairies an'sech like. Mebbe I'm the real King o' France, after all, an' myinstincts are handed down to me from a thousand royal ancestors."

　　"Mebbe it's so," rejoined Long Jim. "I've heard that thar hevbeen a pow'ful lot uv foolish kings."

　　With that he put his two blankets upon the floor, lay down uponthem, and was sound asleep in five minutes. But Shif'less Solbeat him to slumberland by at least a minute, and the others werenot more than two minutes behind Sol.

　　Henry was the first up the next morning. A strong voice shoutedin his ear: "Henry Ware, by all that's glorious," and a handpressed his fingers together in an iron grasp. Henry beheld thetall, thin figure and smiling brown face of Adam Colfax, withwhom he had made that adventurous journey up the Mississippi andOhio.

　　"And the others?" was the first question of Adam Colfax.

　　"They're all here asleep inside. We've been through a lot ofthings, but we're as sound as ever."

　　"That's always a safe prediction to make," said Adam Colfax,smiling. "I never saw five other human beings with such acapacity for getting out of danger."

　　"We were all at Wyoming, and we all still live."

　　The face of the New Englander darkened.

　　"Wyoming!" he exclaimed. "I cannot hear of it without every veingrowing hot within me."

　　"We saw things done there," said Henry gravely, the telling ofwhich few men can bear to hear."

　　"I know! I know!" exclaimed Adam Colfax. "The news of it hasspread everywhere!"

　　"What we want," said Henry, "is revenge. It is a case in whichwe must strike back, and strike hard. If this thing goes on, nota white life will be safe on the whole border from the St.Lawrence to the Mississippi."

　　"It is true," said Adam Colfax, "and we would send an army nowagainst the Iroquois and their allies, but, Henry, my lad, ourfortunes are at their lowest there in the East, where the bigarmies are fighting. That is the reason why nobody has been sentto protect our rear guard, which has suffered so terribly. Youmay be sure, too, that the Iroquois will strike in this regionagain as often and as hard as they can. I make more than half aguess that you and your comrades are here because you know this."

　　He looked shrewdly at the boy.

　　"Yes," said Henry, "that is so. Somehow we were drawn into it,but being here we are glad to stay. Timmendiquas, the greatchief who fought us so fiercely on the Ohio, is with theIroquois, with a detachment of his Wyandots, and while he, as Iknow, frowns on the Wyoming massacre, he means to helpThayendanegea to the end."

　　Adam Colfax looked graver than ever.

　　"That is bad," he said. "Timmendiquas is a mighty warrior andleader, but there is also another way of looking at it. Hispresence here will relieve somewhat the pressure on Kentucky. Iought to tell you, Henry, that we got through safely with oursupplies to the Continental army, and they could not possiblyhave been more welcome. They arrived just in time."

　　The others came forth presently and were greeted with the samewarmth by Adam Colfax.

　　"It is shore mighty good for the eyes to see you, Mr. Colfax,"said Shif'less Sol, "an' it's a good sign. Our people won whenyou were on the Mississippi an' the Ohio' - an' now that you'rehere, they're goin' to win again."

　　"I think we are going to win here and everywhere," said AdamColfax, "but it is not because there is any omen in my presence.It is because our people will not give up, and because ourquarrel is just."

　　The stanch New Englander left on the following day for pointsfarther east, planning and carrying out some new scheme to aidthe patriot cause, and the five, on the day after that, receiveda message written on a piece of paper which was found fastened toa tree on the outskirts of the settlement. It was addressed to"Henry Ware and Those with Him," and it read:

　　"You need not think because you escaped us at Wyoming and onthe Susquehanna that you will ever get back to Kentucky.There is amighty league now on the whole border between theIndians and the soldiers of the king. You have seen atWyoming what we can do, and you will see at other places andon a greater scale what we will do.

　　"I find my own position perfect. It is true thatTimmendiquas does not like me, but he is not king here. Iam the friend of the great Brant; and Hiokatoo, Sangerachte,Hahiron, and the other chiefs esteem me. I am thick withColonel John Butler, the victor of Wyoming; his son, thevaliant and worthy Walter Butler; Sir John Johnson, ColonelGuy Johnson, Colonel Daniel Claus, and many other eminentmen and brave soldiers.

　　"I write these words, Henry Ware, both to you and yourcomrades, to tell you that our cause will prevail overyours. I do not doubt that when you read this you will tryto escape to Kentucky, but when we have destroyed everythingalong the eastern border, as we have at Wyoming, we shallcome to Kentucky, and not a rebel face will be left there.

　　"I am sending this to tell you that there is no hole inwhich you can hide where we cannot reach you. With myrespects, BRAXTON WYATT."

　　Henry regarded the letter with contempt.

　　"A renegade catches something of the Indian nature," he said,"and always likes to threaten and boast."

　　But Shif'less Sol was highly indignant.

　　"Sometimes I think," he said, "that the invention o' writin' wuza mistake. You kin send a man a letter an' call him names an'talk mighty big when he's a hundred miles away, but when you'vegot to stan' up to him face to face an' say it, wa'al, you changeyour tune an' sing a pow'ful sight milder. You ain't gen'allyany roarin' lion then."

　　"I think I'll keep this letter," said Henry, "an' we five willgive an answer to it later on."

　　He tapped the muzzle of his rifle, and every one of the fourgravely tapped the muzzle of his own rifle after him. It was asignificant action. Nothing more was needed.

　　The next morning they bade farewell to the grateful Mary Newtonand her children, and with fresh supplies of food and ammunition,chiefly ammunition, left the fort, plunging once more into thedeep forest. It was their intention to do as much damage as theycould to the Iroquois, until some great force, capable of dealingwith the whole Six Nations, was assembled. Meanwhile, fiveredoubtable and determined borderers could achieve something.

　　It was about the first of August, and they were in the midst ofthe great heats. But it was a period favoring Indian activity,which was now at its highest pitch. Since Wyoming, loaded withscalps, flushed with victory, and aided by the king's men, theyfelt equal to anything. Only the strongest of the bordersettlements could hold them back. The colonists here were somuch reduced, and so little help could be sent them from theEast, that the Iroquois were able to divide into innumerablesmall parties and rake the country as with a fine tooth comb.They never missed a lone farmhouse, and rarely was any fugitivein the woods able to evade them. And they were constantly fedfrom the North with arms, ammunition, rewards for scalps,bounties, and great promises.

　　But toward the close of August the Iroquois began to hear of asilent and invisible foe, an evil spirit that struck them, andthat struck hard. There were battles of small forces in whichsometimes not a single Iroquois escaped. Captives were retakenin a half-dozen instances, and the warriors who escaped reportedthat their assailants were of uncommon size and power. They hadall the cunning of the Indian and more, and they carried riflesthat slew at a range double that of those served to them at theBritish posts. It was a certainty that they were guided by theevil spirit, because every attempt to capture them failedmiserably. No one could find where they slept, unless it wasthose who never came back again.

　　The Iroquois raged, and so did the Butlers and the Johnsons andBraxton Wyatt. This was a flaw in their triumph, and the Britishand Tories saw, also, that it was beginning to affect thesuperstitions of their red allies. Braxton Wyatt made a shrewdguess as to the identity of the raiders, but he kept quiet. Itis likely, also, that Timmendiquas knew, but be, too, saidnothing. So the influence of the raiders grew. While their actswere great, superstition exaggerated them and their powersmanifold. And it is true that their deeds were extraordinary.They were heard of on the Susquehanna, then on the Delaware andits branches, on the Chemung and the Chenango, as far south asLackawaxen Creek, and as far north as Oneida Lake. It is likelythat nobody ever accomplished more for a defense than did thosefive in the waning months of the summer. Late in September themost significant of all these events occurred. A party of eightTories, who had borne a terrible part in the Wyoming affair, wasattacked on the shores of Otsego Lake with such deadly fiercenessthat only two escaped alive to the camp of Sir John Johnson.Brant sent out six war parties, composed of not less than twentywarriors apiece, to seek revenge, but they found nothing.

　　Henry and his comrades had found a remarkable camp at the edge ofone of the beautiful small lakes in which the region abounds.The cliff at that point was high, but a creek entered into itthrough a ravine. At the entrance of the creek into the riverthey found a deep alcove, or, rather, cave in the rock. It ranso far back that it afforded ample shelter from the rain, andthat was all they wanted. It was about halfway between the topand bottom of the cliff, and was difficult of approach both frombelow and above. Unless completely surprised-a very unlikelything with them-the five could hold it against any force as longas their provisions lasted. They also built a boat large enoughfor five, which they hid among the bushes at the lake's edge.They were thus provided with a possible means of escape acrossthe water in case of the last emergency.

　　Jim and Paul, who, as usual, filled the role of housekeepers,took great delight in fitting up this forest home, which thefittingly called " The Alcove." The floor of solid stone wasalmost smooth, and with the aid of other heavy stones they brokeoff all projections, until one could walk over it in the dark inperfect comfort. They hung the walls with skins of deer whichthey killed in the adjacent woods, and these walls furnished manynooks and crannies for the storing of necessities. They also,with much hard effort, brought many loads of firewood, which LongJim was to use for his cooking. He built his little fireplace ofstones so near the mouth of "The Alcove" that the smoke wouldpass out and be lost in the thick forest all about. If the windhappened to be blowing toward the inside of the cave, the smoke,of course, would come in on them all, but Jim would not becooking then.

　　Nor did their operations cease until they had supplied "TheAlcove" plentifully with food, chiefly jerked deer meat, althoughthere was no way in which they could store water, and for thatthey had to take their chances. But their success, the productof skill and everlasting caution, was really remarkable. Threetimes they were trapped within a few miles of "The Alcove," butthe pursuers invariably went astray on the hard, rocky ground,and the pursued would also take the precaution to swim down thecreek before climbing up to "The Alcove." Nobody could follow atrail in the face of such difficulties.

　　It was Henry and Shif'less Sol who were followed the second time,but they easily shook off their pursuers as the twilight wascoming, half waded, half swam down the creek, and climbed up to"The Alcove," where the others were waiting for them with cookedfood and clear cold water. When they had eaten and wererefreshed, Shif'less Sol sat at the mouth of "The Alcove," wherea pleasant breeze entered, despite the foliage that hid theentrance. The shiftless one was in an especially happy mood.

　　"It's a pow'ful comf'table feelin',"he said,"to set up in a nicesafe place like this, an' feel that the woods is full o' ragin'heathen, seekin' to devour you, and wonderin' whar you've goneto. Thar's a heap in knowin' how to pick your home. I'vethought more than once 'bout that old town, Troy, that Paul tellsus 'bout, an' I've 'bout made up my mind that it wuzn't destroyed'cause Helen eat too many golden apples. but 'cause old KingPrime, or whoever built the place, put it down in a plain. Thatwuz shore a pow'ful foolish thing. Now, ef he'd built it on amountain, with a steep fall-off on every side, thar wouldn't hevbeen enough Greeks in all the earth to take it, considerin' themiserable weepins they used in them times. Why, Hector could hevset tight on the walls, laughin' at 'em, 'stead o' goin' out inthe plain an' gittin' killed by A-killus, fur which I've alwaysbeen sorry."

　　"It's 'cause people nowadays have more sense than they did inthem ancient times that Paul tells about," said Long Jim. "Now,thar wuz 'Lyssus, ten or twelve years gittin' home from Troy.Allus runnin' his ship on the rocks, hoppin' into trouble withfour-legged giants, one-eyed women, an' sech like. Why didn't hewalk home through the woods, killin' game on the way, an' hevin'the best time he ever knowed? Then thar wuz the keerlessness ofA-killus' ma, dippin' him in that river so no arrow could enterhim, but holdin' him by the heel an' keepin' it out o' the water,which caused his death the very first time Paris shot it off withhis little bow an' arrer. Why didn't she hev sense enough to letthe heel go under, too. She could hev dragged it out in twoseconds an' no harm done 'ceptin', perhaps, a little more yellin'on the part of A-killus."

　　"I've always thought Paul hez got mixed 'bout that Paris story,"said Tom Ross. "I used to think Paris was the name uv a town,not a man, an' I'm beginnin' to think so ag'in, sence I've beenin the East, 'cause I know now that's whar the French come from."

　　"But Paris was the name of a man," persisted Paul. "Maybe theFrench named their capital after the Paris of the Trojan wars."

　　"Then they showed mighty poor jedgment," said Shif'less Sol. "EfI'd named my capital after any them old fellers, I'd have calledit Hector."

　　"You can have danger enough ,when you're on the tops of hills,"said Henry, who was sitting near the mouth of the cave. "Comehere, you fellows, and see what's passing down the lake."

　　They looked out, and in the moonlight saw six large war canoesbeing rowed slowly down the lake, which, though narrow, was quitelong. Each canoe held about a dozen warriors, and Henry believedthat one of them contained two white faces, evidently those ofBraxton Wyatt and Walter Butler.

　　"Like ez not they've been lookin' fur us," said Tom Ross.

　　"Quite likely," said Henry, "and at the same time they may beengaged in some general movement. See, they will pass withinfifty feet of the base of the cliff."

　　The five lay on the cave floor, looking through the vines andfoliage, and they felt quite sure that they were in absolutesecurity. The six long war canoes moved slowly. The moonlightcame out more brightly, and flooded all the bronze faces of theIroquois. Henry now saw that he was not mistaken, and thatBraxton Wyatt and Walter Butler were really in the first boat.From the cover of the cliff he could have picked off either witha rifle bullet, and the temptation was powerful. But he knewthat it would lead to an immediate siege, from which they mightnot escape, and which at least would check their activities andplans for a long time. Similar impulses flitted through theminds of the other four, but all kept still, although fingersflitted noiselessly along rifle stocks until they touchedtriggers.

　　The Iroquois war fleet moved slowly on, the two renegades neverdreaming of the danger that had threatened them. An unusuallybright ray of moonshine fell full upon Braxton Wyatt's face as hepaused, and Henry's finger played with the trigger of his rifle.It was hard, very hard, to let such an opportunity go by, but itmust be done.

　　The fleet moved steadily down the lake, the canoes keeping closetogether. They turned into mere dots upon the water, becamesmaller and smaller still, until they vanished in the darkness.

　　"I'm thinkin'," said Shif'less Sol, "that thar's some kind uv amovement on foot. While they may hev been lookin' fur us, itain't likely that they'd send sixty warriors or so fur sech apurpose. I heard something three or four days ago from a hunterabout an attack upon the Iroquois town of Oghwaga."

　　"It's most likely true," said Henry, "and it seems to me thatit's our business to join that expedition. What do you fellowsthink?"

　　"Just as you do," they replied with unanimity.

　　"Then we leave this place and start in the morning," said Henry.